Former Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson, center, and Michael Williams appear for a motion hearing social media requests in front of Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. The two are accused of raping a UT female athlete Nov. 16, 2014, during a party at Johnson's apartment after a UT football game. Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess/News SentinelA judge is deciding behind closed doors an issue upon which the fate - and freedom - of a former star University of Tennessee linebacker and his ex-teammate could rest.
And it's perfectly legal for Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee to do so under a Tennessee Supreme Court rule enacted more than two decades ago that the court said would "balance" the accused's constitutional right to a fair trial with an accuser's "sexual privacy."
Judge McGee is holding a hearing this week in the aggravated rape case filed against former Vols A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams that will determine if the ex-players can seek to show their accuser is lying by, in part, presenting testimony that she and Johnson had been engaging in secret sexual trysts for months.
Read more at our news partner's website, knoxnews.com.